We're Family
by AmericasHeroes
Summary: When Keegan's brother is KIA he discovers that his brother has three girls he never head of. Not soon after his brother's death the Ghosts discover that Rorke is after the Russ girls in an attempt to force the Ghosts to surrender. Will the Ghosts be able to protect the last of the Russ family? Or will Keegan lose his nieces just like he lost his brother? I do not own Call of Duty.
1. Chapter 1

**I just want you all to know that I will still be updating my other story We're Still Here as well as this story. I will be updating both. This chapter may be short because it is just an introduction. I really want to know what you guys think about this idea so please review so I know what you guys think. After the first couple chapters if no one really likes it, I will put all my focus back into We're Still Here. I hope you guys enjoy!**

Keegan was never much of a talker. He hardly said anything unless he really needed to, or unless they were on a mission. Everyone knew this. He always kept his mask on as well, although he took it off when he was on base. He liked to keep to himself. He never really wanted to let people in. The only ones he let get close to him were his teammates. They were his family, and he would die to protect his family.

It was late in the evening. They had just gotten back from an exhausting mission. He planned on skipping dinner and just grabbing a quick shower before bed. He wasn't that hungry. He was too tired to even really think about food. He almost contemplated skipping the shower too, but, according to Hesh, he reeked. Since he shared a room with Kick he figured he'd be courteous and take one so the younger man wouldn't have to smell him. Then again, Kick had been a major pain in the ass lately.

Kick was the exact opposite of him. He was the social butterfly of the group. The kid never stopped talking. He'd run his mouth constantly. He loved to joke around too. He was also the world's biggest prankster. He didn't pull pranks so much anymore though because of the last one he pulled a few months ago. Merrick about beat him lifeless after the kid had dyed his beard blue while he was sleeping. It took _weeks_ to wash out. He had to admit though, it was pretty funny. No one could take Merrick seriously. Especially not Hesh. He'd call him 'Old Bluebeard' behind his back and him and Kick would smile and snicker during the briefings.

"Keegan?"

He jumped and cursed himself silently for not paying attention to his surroundings. This was how you got killed. He turned around to find Elias standing there looking somewhat amused at the fact that he had managed to sneak up on Keegan. The small smile however vanished almost as soon as it appeared. That was slightly concerning. Something must be wrong. His thoughts were confirmed when Elias beckoned him closer. "I need to speak with you. In private." Keegan simply nodded and followed his commanding officer to his office. He was slightly nervous but didn't let it show on his face. Elias usually only took him to his office if it was something very important.

Upon entering, Elias signaled him to sit down. His office was very organized besides the piles of papers strewn about the desk. There was a picture of him and his sons from when they were little. It was a picture of them hunting. Hesh was standing next to Logan while Elias stood behind them, a hand on either of their shoulders. They all wore bright orange vests and we're holding their rifles up. He smiled. The boys had grown a lot. They were just like their old man.

Elias sighed and rested his elbows on the desk. Keegan swallowed the knot in his throat. He knew by the expression on his Captain's face that the news was bad. "Keegan, I don't really know how to tell you this," the man shook his head sadly but continued. "Your brother, Jacob Russ, was on a mission in No Man's Land. His squad was ambushed by a group of Federation soldiers." Keegan felt dread wash over him. No Man's Land was a dangerous place. Even for the Ghosts. His younger brother Jacob was just a regular Infantry soldier in the United States Army. "Keegan, your brother was KIA." Elias's words were like a strong punch to the gut. His brother was the only family he had left.

His composure faltered as he sat back in the chair, putting his head in his hands. Screw his composure, his brother was _dead_. Their parents had died when they where very young. They had been killed in a car accident. He and Jacob were moved to various foster homes throughout their childhood. He had always done everything he could to protect his brother through thick and thin. When Keegan had turned eighteen he had immediately signed up for the Army. He was sick of foster homes. His brother was two years younger than him and had begged him to stay with him until he also turned eighteen. The two ended up getting into a huge fight that ended badly. Things had been said that shouldn't have been said. They never spoke to each other after that.

Keegan always kept tabs on his brother though. When he became a Ghost he was able to pull up information on his brother's unit. He always knew where he was and what he would be doing. There were benefits to being a highly elite squad. But now none of that seemed to matter because his brother was gone. They had no other siblings and no other family. The Russ brothers where all that was left. He regretted that fight...

"That's not all," Elias said. What else could there possibly be? Could this get any worse? "Keegan, I know you and your brother hadn't talked in a very long time. Were you aware that your brother Jacob was married?" Married? Jacob had gotten married?! He had no clue that his brother was involved with a women. Seeing the complete shock on Keegan's face, he continued. "Jacob was married to a woman named Taylor Keyys. She died a few years back from Skin Cancer," he explained.

"I...I had no idea," Keegan said.

"I know this must be really hard for you Keegan, but there's more. Your brother had three kids. Three_ girls_ actually." Keegan sat up. His brother had kids? That must be a mistake. He would have told him. Wouldn't he? Had his brother been that upset with him for leaving? He had gotten married and had kids and he never called or anything? Not even a card or letter? "Where are they?" Keegan asked quickly.

"Battle Creek, Michigan. Great place to raise a family. Practically untouched by the war," Elias reassured.

Keegan thought for a moment. "Who's going to watch his kids? What will happen to them?"

Elias looked at him sadly. He knew it. He knew the news would get worse. "Keegan, Rorke knew about your family. He knew where to find your brother Jacob. He wanted to kill him to send a message, but that's not why I called you here. His kid's were going to be placed into foster care until we received Intel that Rorke was planning on kidnapping your nieces. " Keegan clenched his fists.

"That bastard! He's going to bring three girls into this war? They haven't done anything!"

Elias nodded. "I know. Which is why I am sending you and the rest of the team to keep an eye on the girls while we get this situation figured out. Maybe you'll be able to bond with them. Have some closure."

Keegan tilted his head. "Your sending us out on a mission to protect my nieces?"

"Yes, I am. Family is important Keegan. I know you and your brother never really spoke. You may not have known about his family but you have a chance now to get to know them. You have a chance to protect them. Rorke thinks he can just walk in and take them to use against you. Who knows, maybe we will be able to get him as well."

Keegan desperately wanted to go. He needed to see his brother's kids. He hadn't even known they existed until now. They were his family and someone was out to get them. He wouldn't let that happen. "Thank you sir," Keegan stood from the chair. "I'd go get ready. Tell the others. You boys leave at 0600 hours." Keegan nodded and went to inform the rest of the team. Looks like he _was _skipping that shower after all.

**Again, I know the chapter is short but it is just an introduction to everything. The next one will be longer, I promise. Please review to let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys :) So I wanted to update this chapter rather quickly so you could get a better feel for the story. A big thanks to the ones who reviewed already. Hopefully this chapter gives you better insight on how the story will be. Remember to let me know what you think so far. **

"I'm excited for this," Kick smiled as they exited the car. "We get to meet the Russ family!"

Keegan rolled his eyes. "_I _haven't even met the 'Russ family,'" he sighed. They all stepped out of the car and looked at the fairly large house in front of them. It was a bit out of the way. More of a backwoods home. The nearest neighbor was a short run away but it still made Keegan a bit uneasy. He didn't like the fact that the girls where out here by themselves. It was a two story house that was an old white color. The paint had faded a bit. The grass was nice and green. Someone had been mowing, one of the girls probably. The yard seemed to be very well kept. Flowers bloomed in the well-kept mulched areas bordering the house.

"Jesus Christ. How much was your brother making?" Kick whistled. It _was_ a very nice looking house.

"No time for looking Kick. We should go talk to the girls and tell them what's up," Merrick said. The men grabbed their duffle bags from the car and approached the front door. Keegan was getting a bit nervous. He had never seen these kids before. They probably had no idea who he was. They all stepped up onto the porch at the front door. Keegan could see that there was a light on. _Someone_ had to be home. Merrick led the way up, followed by the overly excited Kick and Hesh. Logan and himself pulled up the back.

Merrick leaned over and rang the door bell. Keegan heard some voices from inside. They were muffled, he couldn't really make them out. It wasn't long after that he heard footsteps approaching the door. With each step he felt himself get more and more nervous, but he didn't let it show. They had all decided to look professional and keep their masks off to avoid scaring the girls. The big white door opened up to reveal a blonde. Too bad they didn't have enough time to take a good long look. When she saw Merrick standing there she screamed. An ear-piercing _scream._ Then she slammed the door in their faces. So much for not scaring them. He was sure the neighbors would probably have heard that.

Merrick jumped in surprise at the action. They hadn't expected that... "Jesus, Merrick. I told you that you looked scary!" Kick chuckled. There was no way in hell that girl was going to open up the door. For a long moment no one really knew what to do. They couldn't just barge in. They had managed to terrify the girls in, _literally, _the first thirty seconds of meeting them. Or at least the blonde one, whichever one she was.

There was more footstep but he assumed it was the girl running up the steps or something. They were all very surprised when the door creaked open again for the second time. This was a different girl. She curiously peered her head out and looked at the group that had congregated outside on her porch. She wasn't frightened, just curious. Once she saw the men she straightened up and opened the door all the way. "Rachel you dumbass! They're American!" She called back over her shoulder.

Keegan noticed that the girl at the door was injured. Her face was crackled, and bleeding, her nose was black and blue, and her hand that was holding the door was so black that Keegan was _sure _it was only a matter of time before it fell off. It was a sickening black and grey with various gashes on the knuckles. Her lips where blue and she had a red tint to her face as if from frostbite. She looked as if she'd been laying in the snow for a few days, but that was impossible due to it being summer. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly. He was already reaching for his medical kit.

The girl seemed confused for a moment by the statement. "What?" She followed everyone's eyes to her hand. "Oh! No, that's just make-up. Ivy is practicing her project on me," she smiled then stepped back and held the door open. "You coming in or you just going to stand out on the porch all day?"

"Your just letting strangers walk into your house?" Hesh questioned. Logan nudged him roughly for it.

The girl shrugged and nodded her head towards the pistol on Merrick's belt. "I figured if you wanted to kill someone, you would have by now. And honestly?" She gave the white door a swift kick as if to prove a point. "The door isn't very sturdy. If you can't kick this thing in our military is screwed." She turned and went back inside, leaving the men to follow her. After they all exchanged a look, they did so. Clearly there were some personality differences here.

They walked down a short hallway and entered what was the kitchen area. There was another girl sitting at the table with paints all over the place. She had all different sized brushes laid out, bottles, tubes, all kinds of cosmetics. The girl they had followed in glanced up at the steps. "Rachel! Get down here!" She called. When there was no reply she tilted her head back and let out an annoyed sigh. She glanced to the other girl at the table. "I'm more so disappointed in myself for _not_ knowing better and letting her answer the door. You saw me Ivy, I made a rational decision to do that. You know why I did that?" The girl, 'Ivy', shook her head no. "Because I'm a dumbass."

She turned back around to face the men that had followed her inside. She held her non-painted hand out towards Merrick. "Sorry about that. I'm Cade Russ. That's my sister Ivy Russ, and you already met our other sister Rachel," she said the last sister's name with an eye roll. Merrick smiled and accepted the handshake. "Nice to meet the both of you. I'm Merrick," he gestured to them as he went, "this is Keegan, Logan, Hesh, and Kick."

"Nice to meet you boys. So what brings you out here?" She asked.

This was the part he had been dreading. Telling the girls what had happened to their dad. Telling them what the situation was. Merrick cleared his throat and looked at the two girls. No use in trying to coax the other one down here. "Listen girls, your father Jacob," he paused as if to check and see that they where following along with him. "Your father, Jacob, was killed yesterday." The girl at the table froze. Her brown eyes widened and became tear filled almost instantly. Her mouth opened as if to speak but no words came out. She stayed silent.

The girl standing closest to them, Cade, glanced back at her sister. She walked over to the counter and grabbed a box of tissues. Turning back around, she handed the box to her sister Ivy. Keegan couldn't read Cade's face as she turned back towards them. He could see Ivy try to wipe the tears from her eyes but that didn't seem to help. It only made them redder.

"What happened? Do you know?" Cade asked softly. Merrick looked at the girl, contemplating weather or not to continue. It was a brutal death and he didn't want to overwhelm them with the news. They heard some choked sobs coming from Ivy at the table. Cade turned back towards her, seeing that her sister was in distress. "Hey, Ivy? You ok?" The girl stood up abruptly and exited the room quickly. Her eyes were red and her face was already tear stained. Cade sighed as she heard and saw her sister run up the steps. "Ivy," she tried again but her only response was the sound of a door slamming.

"I'm very sorry about your father," Merrick said.

Cade nodded, looking down at the floor for a moment. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Are you aloud to tell me what happened?" She was persistent. She wanted to know what had gone down.

"His squad was ambushed," Keegan said. "No survivors."

Cade nodded. She looked down on the floor, her brown hair falling into her face a little bit. She brushed it back with her painted hand. Merrick placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If you need a minute or two that's fine-"

"No. No, it's fine." She nodded and looked back up at them. "Is that what you came here for? Did you guys know him?" She asked, crossing her arms. Keegan was very worried about Cade's reaction. He expected something more like Ivy's but this girl had some _serious _walls built up.

Merrick glanced over at Keegan, urging him to continue. The moment of truth. He cleared his throat. "I knew your father very well before I enlisted. Unfortunately though we never really talked after that. I wish I had taken the chance to call him up sometime." He couldn't tell them...not yet.

"Did you two grow up together?" Cade asked.

Keegan nodded. "Yes, we did. I was with him until I enlisted when he was sixteen. I never talked to him since."

Cade nodded. "So it's been a while them huh?" She glanced around for a moment as if checking to make sure the house was stable and that it wouldn't start crashing down around them. After a few moments she looked back at Keegan. "So what's going to happen to us?" Her voice cracked a little as she spoke but otherwise she hinted towards no signs of distress.

"That's what we came here for. We are placing you three girls under military protection," Keegan explained.

Cade raised and eyebrow. "Military protection? Why would we need that?"

This time Merrick was the one who spoke up. "Look Cade, this is very important. You may not quite understand, but there is a man after you three girls. We want to protect you until the situation is handled."

"Why would someone be after us? My dad is," she paused for a moment and cleared her throat. "My dad _was _just an Infantry soldier, and he's dead now. What would be the benefit of coming after us?"

Merrick glanced at Keegan. Cade seemed pretty intelligent when it came to this stuff. She knew a thing or two, clearly. "Your dad's brother has a high rank in the military," be began slowly, shooting Keegan a glare for not coming right out and saying who he was. He studied Cade's face as he went on. "We believe he is using you three to get to him."

There was a long pause as Cade just stood and looked at them. She blinked a few times, not answering or saying anything. She seemed to be mulling this over in her head. Thinking about everything she had just been told. He could see her grinding her top and bottom teeth together for a quick moment. She straightened up a bit and walked past the group into another room that was connected to the Kitchen.

Merrick sighed, "We've been here five minutes and already we've wrecked these girl's lives." There wasn't much they could do but wait in the kitchen. Wait for the girls to come back down and talk to them, or yell at them, or blame them. Whatever their suffering caused them to believe. They turned back towards the other room when they heard footsteps approaching. Cade came back into the kitchen holding a picture. She walked up to Merrick and handed it to him. "That's his brother, right?" She asked.

Merrick glanced at the picture before handing it to Keegan. Keegan was shocked. It was a picture of himself and Jacob when they where younger. Keegan had a hand on Jacob's shoulder. Both boys where smiling. He remembered when this was taken. They where with their third foster family. A very nice couple with three other foster kids at the time. He smiled. His brother had kept this. He realized everyone was looking at him, waiting for a reply. He cleared his throat and handed the picture back to Cade. "Yes, that's him."

Cade smiled. "He never really talked about his brother. I only found out about him because I 'overheard' a conversation between my mom and dad." She had used air quotations around overheard.

"You were ear hustling," Keegan stated. His brother had a nasty habit of ear hustling conversations. Apparently that gene was genetic. Cade's smile widened a bit. "Alright, maybe I ear hustle just a little bit."

She looked at the picture for a long moment. "I asked him about his brother and he wouldn't really tell me anything. He showed me a few pictures he had though. I asked him why we had never met him. He told me it was because they didn't speak anymore. I honestly don't think he knows about us. It really wouldn't matter if we were taken. He wouldn't know who we are." She shrugged a bit. "I don't want to waste your time or anything like that."

Keegan swallowed hard. That was a horrible thing to think. He would never just leave his brother's kids to die, even if he hardly knew them. It wouldn't be right. Merrick sensed that Keegan was a bit choked up so he spoke up. "I know your uncle cares about you very much and would be devastated if he knew you where hurt because of him. You are by no means wasting our time here Cade. We are going to stay and make sure your safe until this mess get's straightened out."

Cade nodded. "Thank you very much. I appreciate it." She glanced back up the steps and frowned at the thought of both her sisters being upstairs during this news. As if reading her mind, Merrick spoke up. "We'll tell them once they come out." Cade gave a slight chuckle and shook her head. "You see, if I had ran up there you can count on the fact that I'd heard the news anyway. I always eavesdrop," she said, trying to ease a bit of then tension with humor.

She defiantly kept walls up. A lot of walls. She tried her best to show no emotion. Keegan really wanted to meet the others girls too so he could get a read for them as well. Cade appeared to be the one in charge. The one that took care of everybody. She reminded him a lot of Jacob. She had his eyes for sure. A deep green. He would have to help the family heal from it's emotional scars. Taking another look at Cade he saw that her expression had gone blank again. With this girl, healing emotional scars would be very difficult. Now they just needed to meet the other girls.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry! I promise I will update _We're Still Here_ next. I also wanted to remind you guys that I post pictures of my characters on my Tumblr account! Its americasheroes10 if you want to see all the characters from this story and my other stories. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

It had been a few days and the only kid who came downstairs was Cade. She would take food up to her sisters because neither one of them would come out of their rooms. Keegan had expected this. After he had told Rachel what had happened she cried, screamed at him, and slammed the door in his face. Cade had apologized to him about a thousand times for that. He couldn't blame Rachel for it though. She had just lost her father. She had to lash out at somebody. It was very awkward being in the house. It had plenty of extra rooms but with only Cade walking around the place felt empty.

It was early in the morning on a Saturday. As usual, Keegan was the first one up. At least, he _thought_ he was. When he walked out into the kitchen he was more than surprised to find Ivy sitting at the table drawing. "Ivy?" The girl jumped and dropped the pencil she was using. "Easy, it's just me," Keegan said. He walked over and handed the pencil back to her. "What are you doing up so early?" Ivy took the pencil from him and went back to drawing her picture. Keegan tilted his head slightly. After a few moments of her not speaking he decided to sit down next to her.

"You like to draw?" He tried again. She, once again, said nothing. Her brown hair was slightly messy, as if it hadn't been brushed yet. He could see the slight bags under her brown eyes. She must had gotten them from her mom because Jacob had arctic blue eyes just like him. Keegan looked at the picture she was drawing. It was a picture of an old bridge. It was very good. She had shaded it with the pencil, bringing out the shadows and worn wood. "That's a very nice drawing," he said to her. He saw the corner of her mouth twitch into a small smile. "Is it ok if I draw with you?" Drawing wasn't the most manliest of things to do but he desperately wanted to learn more about Ivy.

She didn't say anything to him, she just handed him a piece of paper and a pencil. He started to draw but he was more so watching Ivy. "You know, your dad was a real shitty drawer. You must have gotten this skill from your mom. The only thing he could really draw was grass," he said. That got a slight chuckle from Ivy. It was true. Jacob couldn't draw worth a shit. Keegan _had_ to draw to be a sniper. He had to draw landscapes for recon missions. Anything other than landscapes he was somewhat decent at. He figured he'd try to draw some trees or something to make it look like he was busy.

"Your not much of a talker are you?" Not surprisingly she didn't answer him. "I haven't heard a word out of you since we got here. I don't know what your voice sounds like." Ivy just continued drawing. She'd stop every now and then and smudge the pencil dust with her finger to blend it in better. She held her picture up to the light to get a better look at it. Biting her bottom lip she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to see what the picture was missing. Keegan looked at the image again. It had the old bridge in the middle of the page. It was clearly the focus point. Then there were some large trees and brushes along the outsides. She had even drawn a small creek running underneath it. She was trying to find something to put on the left and right of the bridge. He cleared his throat. "You could draw a path leading from the bridge." For the first time since he'd gotten up Ivy looked at him. She gave him a twisted frown and a raised eyebrow. He cleared his throat again and shrugged. "Just a suggestion."

Ivy looked at the picture again and nodded her approval. She set it back down and picked up her pencil again. She had several sharpened ones sitting next to her so she would always have a sharp point. Keegan watched as she continued to breath life into the drawing. It truly was impressive. "I know your a bit upset about what happened to your dad." The pencil stopped moving. "Maybe you didn't talk before we got here. I don't know. Maybe you blame us and just refuse to talk to us. Whatever the reason, I feel like you have a lot to say, and I just want you to know that I'll always be willing to listen." Ivy kept her eyes on the paper but Keegan knew she was still listening to him. He stood up from the table and slid his picture over to Ivy. "Here, I'm not as good a drawer as you. Thanks for letting me talk to you." He ruffled her hair and went to get breakfast started.

A few hours later everyone was dressed and downstairs. Even Rachel had decided to come down. Cade was sitting on the counter top drinking a Pepsi while Ivy continued drawing on the table. Merrick was sitting across the table reading the paper. Rachel was looking at a mirror in the hallway, putting on make-up. Kick was just sitting at the end of the table tapping his fingers and Logan and Hesh were cleaning their pistols. The only real noise was coming from Kick's tapping fingers. Cade rolled her eyes and looked at him. "Dude, you keep that up I'm cutting your fingers off." Merrick glanced up from his paper and looked at her. Kick just shrugged. "Then I'll clap my hands."

Without missing a beat, Cade continued. "Then I'll cut your hands off."

"I'll tap my feet."

Cade took a sip of Pepsi and looked at Kick completely deadpan. "I will bury you." Keegan spit out the water he had been drinking at the violent and completely serious sounding threat. Everyone glanced up at Cade's harsh and seemingly out of the blue words. Kick stopped tapping.

Rachel peered around the corner away from the mirror. "Your all talk," she accused.

Cade snorted and took another sip of her drink. "You think so huh? What do you think happened to your cat?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "You did _not_ touch my cat!"

Cade looked at her blankly for a moment before answering sarcastically, "Oh yeah, of course not."

"What happened to the cat?" Kick asked wearily.

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. I let her out one day and she never came back."

Cade huffed. "Yeah, _that's_ what happened."

"Shut up," Rachel snapped.

Cade rolled her eyes and went back to sipping her Pepsi. Merrick suddenly held his hand up. "Hold up. Anybody else hear that?" Everyone stayed silent and listened for the noise. Their was a slight scratching sound coming from upstairs. Cade jumped down from the counter. "I know what it is. I got it," she said as she started up the steps. Merrick stood up. "Are you sure? Maybe one of us should-"

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing," Cade said nonchalantly as she was rounding the corner upstairs, walking towards Rachel's room. Kick tried to peer up the steps from where he sat at the table. "Where's she going?" The other two girls shrugged. Unsure of what their younger sibling was up too. Rachel put down her make-up kit and followed her upstairs. "Cade! You better not be in my room!" Keegan and Merrick both exchanged a look but allowed the two girls to 'take care of it.' That was a mistake. Not a few minutes later there was a loud scream. "Oh my god! What is that!?" Keegan and Merrick quickly stood up, ready to charge up the steps. Logan and Hesh quickly drew their guns. Just before they were about to go up they heard Cade's voice. "Get the door! Get the door!"

Get the door? What the hell did she mean by that? Ivy quickly got up and opened the back door that led to the back yard. Cade came down the steps quickly. In her hands, snapping and growing something fierce, was a _raccoon_. Ivy stepped out of the way of the door as Cade tossed the critter onto the porch. She quickly shut the door as the creature scampered off the deck and ran into the woods. Keegan blinked a few times. Cade looked down at her badly bleeding arms. "Damn! Little bastard bit me!" She turned her arms so the others could see the teeth marks. Keegan was too shocked to actually speak. Rachel suddenly appeared at the top of the steps, looking down into the kitchen. She was covering her mouth with her hands. "Is it gone?" She called down.

Cade glanced up at her. "Yeah and thank you _so_ much for your help. It's hard to find people that will stand back and scream the whole time while you get mauled by a raccoon," she said sarcastically.

"I can't believe you grabbed that thing by its neck! That was so gross!" Rachel shrieked.  
Cade walked over to the sink with Merrick and began to run her arms under warm water. "I didn't grab it by the neck, I grabbed it by the scruff. There's a difference." Merrick told her to stay put and went to dig around in the cabinets.

"Does she need to go to the hospital?" Hesh asked as he came over to help.

Cade shook her head. "It's already had it's rabies shot. I'll be fine."

"How do you know?" Kick asked.

Merrick found a bottle of rubbing alcohol and set it down on the counter. He began digging through his medical pack for more supplies. "Because that same one keeps sneaking into the attic. I shot it once through the ear so that's how I know it's the same one. I caught it once and had the animal control guy give it a shot. I was going to kill it but this one," she pointed to Rachel. "Begged me to let it go. So now, because I was stupid enough to listen to her, we will forever have a coon problem."

Merrick took Cade's arms and brought them over to the counter. "This is gonna sting a bit." He poured some rubbing alcohol onto the gashes. The liquid hissed as it sizzled into the open wounds. "Son of a bitch!" Cade kicked the wood underneath the counter. Once the sizzling stopped and the wound was cleaned out Merrick inspected the damage. "Your gonna need stitches for this one," he said pointing to the deepest bite.

"So why don't you just shoot it again so you won't have this problem?" Kick asked. Keegan shot him a glare, telling him not to give Cade any ideas. The last thing they needed was someone getting shot.

"Because mom locked her gun in the safe and only_ I_ know the combination to it," Rachel said.

Cade glared at her. "I'm gonna figure out that damn combination," she growled.

"Yeah right. There's like a zillion different possible combinations on that thing," Rachel said.

Cade huffed. "Ten thousand actually. And I've done about four thousand three hundred and forty seven. Only a matter of time before I get the right number," she winked. Damn. Talk about commitment. Merrick pulled her back around so he could work on her arms. "Hold still."

"So does this thing show up often?" Kick nearly laughed.

"About once a month," Rachel said. Kick couldn't keep the stupid grin off his face. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Cade snapped.

"This is gonna hurt for a second," Merrick said quickly.

Cade raised an eyebrow. "What's gonna hurt-?" Merrick suddenly jerked his fingers out of one of the bites, pulling something out of the flesh. Cade hissed sharply and shoved Merrick away from her. "Son of a bitch! What the hell?!" Merrick held up a small tooth, setting it back down on the counter. Cade held her arms closer to her body, stepping away from Merrick. There was fresh blood flowing out again. He stepped towards her in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "Here, let me see it," he said. Cade shook her head and pulled away. "Fuck you, your not touching my arms. I'd rather bleed out."

Keegan walked over towards her along with Hesh. "Cade, we can't help you if you don't let us," Keegan said.

"You need to go to the hospital for stitches," Hesh added.

Cade shook her head. "I am _not_ going to the hospital. I'll stitch it myself."

Merrick raised an eyebrow. "Whoa whoa, hold on now," he said. "Your not doing this yourself."

"I have medical training. I can put in a few stitches," Cade said. She pulled out a large kit from a different drawer. Keegan watched as she started laying out a needle and stitching thread. Merrick grabbed her arm to stop her from continuing. "Cade, _I_ will stitch it, just relax." She looked at him a moment before she offered him her arms with a sigh. Keegan was relieved to say the least. Trained or not, he didn't want her to do it herself. He trusted Merrick more.

It was surprising to Keegan that she was confident enough in herself to actually try and stitch her own wounds. Most people couldn't do that. Where had she even learned that? Had Jacob taught her? She hardly flinched as Merrick began to fix up the bite. Rachel on the other hand looked like she would faint. He actually had Hesh go stand next to her, just in case. He glanced over and saw Ivy get up from the table. She grabbed an old wash cloth and began to wipe up the blood that had spilled onto the tile floor. Keegan got down and helped her.

It didn't take very long. Cade only needed a few stitches. Merrick wrapped up her arms, finishing the job. She examined her newly wrapped arms before hopping off the counter. "Thank you Merrick," she said with a smile. He just gave a slight nod. She then started up back up the steps. "Where are you going?" Keegan asked. She stopped at the top of the steps and looked down. "I'm gonna figure out how that damn coon keeps getting in," she said. Keegan sighed, "Hesh, Logan, you better go with her." The two Walker boys nodded and followed Cade up the steps.

He noticed Ivy had sat back down at the table and was scribbling something down on a piece of paper. Out of curiosity he walked over to see what she was doing. He hadn't even noticed she had sat back down again. Merrick started cleaning up the counter and packing supplies away. By the time he got over to Ivy she had apparently finished it. She smiled slightly and handed him the picture. He looked at it. It was the picture he drew for her a few hours ago with the trees, except greatly modified. The trees had more detail and she had added something to it. Right in the center of the page, climbing up a tree, was a raccoon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update! I have been focused on We're Still Here and I have been very busy lately. I've had exams this week, Graduations, and my wisdom teeth pulled. Needless to say it has been a long week. But now school is out and I will have more time to type! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

"I'm going out!" Rachel called as she grabbed her purse and fixed her shirt. She was wearing a zebra print tube top with _really _short shorts. Her hair was down and curled and she also had make-up plastered onto her face. She was heading towards the door but Merrick quickly stopped her. "Whoa whoa hold on young lady. Where are you off two?"

Rachel crossed her arms defiantly and huffed. "I'm going out with my boyfriend!" She explained as if she expected Merrick to accept that as probable cause to leave. They had explained to all of them that they couldn't leave the house without one of them with them. "One of us will have to go with you," Merrick said. Rachel through her hands up in the air and groaned. "My boyfriend is _very_ responsible and one hundred percent trustworthy!"

Cade cleared her throat from where she sat at the table. She was playing Poker with Kick, Hesh, and Logan. Actually, more like kicking their asses. "Isn't your boyfriend Tommy Hudkins?" She asked looking up from her cards. Rachel rolled her eyes. "Uh, duh! We've been dating for two weeks now Cade!"

Cade took her index finger and stuck it in her mouth, making a gagging noise to follow it. Keegan raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound good. Cade may be rudely sarcastic but she seemed to be a good judge in character. Maybe this Tommy kid was trouble. Rachel put her hands on her hips. "He's still pissed for what you did, so you stay away from him," she warned.

Cade looked shocked at the accusation. "Pissed at me? He's lucky I didn't cut his fricken head off! Not my fault your boyfriends a dumbass!"

Kick laid his cards down. "What did you do?"

Cade rolled her eyes. "Her dumbass of a boyfriend snuck into the house to come see her. I wake up in the middle of the night and hear him open the door. So I grabbed my knife and when he came up the steps I pinned him to the wall and nearly slit his throat. Kid about pissed his pants."

"Your such a freak!" Rachel snapped.

Cade shrugged. "Maybe." She examined Rachel for a moment. "Call me old fashioned but aren't your shorts supposed to be longer than your vagina?"

Rachel glared harshly at Cade. "Ugh! Why do you always do stupid stuff like this to me!?" She groaned.

"I'm your sister, not your friend. Deal with it."

Rachel started throwing a fit, going on about how it was unfair that she couldn't go out with her boyfriend alone and how Cade had no right to judge how she dressed up. Cade kept making faces the whole time Rachel paced back and forth, exaggerating with her hands. Kick was trying not to laugh as Cade kept making faces and rude hand gestures. Keegan just straight faced it the whole time. "And further more, I am eighteen years old and can make my own decisions!" After her long rant she had to go get a drink of water.

Cade rolled her eyes and huffed. "Yeah, doesn't mean you make the _right_ decisions though," she grumbled. That's when the doorbell rang.

If looks could kill, everyone would be dead. Rachel was glaring at everyone, especially Cade. However, Cade pretended not to notice. "I got it!" Before Rachel could say anything Cade was already at the door. They all leaned out of their chairs to peer down the hall to see what Rachel's boyfriend looked like. Rachel started over towards them as well, slamming her glass onto the counter.

Cade opened the door to reveal a tall African American boy. He had a hat flipped around backwards and his pants were practically at his ankles. Merrick glanced back at Keegan who was death glaring the boy. The kid seemed really spooked at the fact that Cade was the one at the door. He was just lucky it was _Cade_ and not one of them. "Yo, your sister home dawg?" Cade wasn't impressed by his 'gangster' appearance and language he spoke to her.

"For starters, you ever call me 'dawg' again I'll put my knife so far down your throat you'll be-"

"Cade!" Rachel snapped, rounding the corner with her purse. Cade stopped her before Merrick did with an outstretched hand. "Hold up a second." She pretended to examine the boy for a moment but Keegan had a feeling she already knew what she was gonna say. "You planning on trying to get lucky with my sister?" Jesus, how blunt could you get? Given his appearance though, she probably wasn't wrong. Keegan didn't doubt that was the boy's intentions. Rachel's jaw nearly dropped.

"Cade!"

Cade just smiled, keeping the door held open with one hand. "Seriously, I'd bet money this guys got a damn condom in his pocket." She turned back towards the others. "Hey Kick!" She called "You willing to take that bet?"

"That's enough," Rachel hissed threateningly. The boy was very flustered at this point.

Cade's smile broadened at her sister before she turned back to the boy. She fixed him with a hard look. "Pull your goddamn pants up you dumbass! Get a fucking belt!" She snapped. He immediately hiked up his pants. She crossed her arms, intimidatingly. "Jesus, you got them so low you could trip and fall on her an accidentally have sex!" She through her hands up in the air dramatically.

Keegan felt his face heat up slightly. Damn, Cade was good at this kind of stuff. He got the feeling she had done this before though. Jacob would be proud of her. Of course, if Jacob were here the kid would have a .12 gauge shot gun in his face.

"Well, I'm not impressed," Cade shrugged. With that, she slammed the door right in the kids face. Rachel literally gasped at the rude gesture. Keegan looked over and saw big surprised grins on the others face. Merrick just kept his face hard and looked ready to intervene. Rachel brought her hands up to her mouth in complete shock. "You did _not_ just do that," she hissed.

Cade laughed. "Yeah, I _did_. Watch, I'll do it again." She once again opened the door to reveal the black boy once more. He opened his mouth to speak and tried to step forward back into the house but Cade slammed the door shut again. This time, the door clocked the boy right in the face. Keegan could hear the sharp _thump_. Everyone could hear it. Rachel was absolutely mortified. "I don't think your going out tonight. Just saying," Cade said, turning away from the door and back to Rachel. Rachel stormed up the steps angrily. "I hate you!" She screamed as she pounded her feet up the steps. Cade just smiled. "I love you," she teased. Rachel slammed the bedroom door and didn't come out the rest of the night.

That night Keegan laid down on his bed with a groan. He felt sore for some reason. They hadn't been doing much so he had gone to the gym to lift and run so he wouldn't get out of shape. It was late. He looked over out the window at the stars that blotted the sky. Jacob had a nice life here. Beautiful kids, a nice house, great place to live. Why did he stay in the Army? Why didn't he just get out? Why didn't he ever tell him? He flipped on to his back and looked back up at the ceiling. His mind wouldn't let him sleep tonight.

He heard a soft creak. So quiet he wasn't entirely sure he had heard it. He was a sniper though, he _knew_ he heard something. Very slowly, he got up and walked over to the doorway. He saw a shadowy figure opening the door. He was confused for a moment because the figure was _leaving_, not coming in. In the moonlight he saw that it was Cade. He probably could have figured it out anyway just by the feminine, yet, muscular form. He watched as she slipped out into the night silently. Where was she going?

Keegan shut his bedroom door and followed her outside. He opened the back door and went after her. He saw her disappear into the woods out back. The night air was cool and relaxing. The sky was littered with stars. There wasn't time to stand around and gawk at the beauty of the night. He needed to follow Cade. He _had_ to make sure she was safe.

He was trained in stealth. He was used to the forest setting. He was confident he would be able to follow her without her knowing. He could just confront her right away but he wanted to know what she was doing. His curiosity was getting the best of him. He stayed a good fifty feet back so she wouldn't spot him. She would stop occasionally and look around to make sure she wasn't being followed. Good thing he was a Ghost. He didn't make any noise as he walked. Not a sound.

He followed Cade down a small path that almost wasn't even visible. It was clear that it was rarely used. He followed her down the unmarked path until he could hear the sound of rushing water. Where was she going? Was there a river back here? Eventually the path got rockery and sloped downward a bit. He was _very_ careful not to slip and fall down and blow his cover. He put a little more distance between them so she wouldn't hear him stepping on any plant life or knocking loose some stones in the dirt. The path eventually opened up to a beautiful scene. It almost made Keegan gasp.

There was a beautiful waterfall that shown a lovely blue color in the moonlight. It wasn't very big. Probably only fifteen feet high. The way the trees and plants surround the edges only added to the beauty. The water poured down into a large pool that opened up under the fall. The water then continued slowly down a small river bend. There were large rocks around the bank of the pool as well. He watched as Cade climbed up to a bigger one and looked out over the water.

So this was where she snuck off to. Was she meeting someone? Why would she come out here all by herself? What was the purpose of doing so? Perhaps Cade needed to escape the house for a while and come here. Was she stressed? He remembered how Jacob would sneak out from time to time to escape reality for a bit. He silently steeped out of the trees and walked over towards the fifteen year old.

She was looking up at the stars, letting out a deep sigh. Her eyes fluttered shut as she began to relax. He gently cleared his throat, trying not to startle her too badly. She jumped and nearly slid off the rock, yet she managed to keep her balance. She looked at him wide eyed for a moment before relaxing. "Oh, it's just you." She seemed relieved. Keegan snorted a bit and climbed up next to her. "Who did you think I was?"

Cade looked back out over the water. "For a moment there, I was afraid you were Merrick."

"Merrick would have confronted you long before you got here," he pointed out.

Cade nodded her agreement. "Yeah, your probably right. He's not the most understanding of people."

Keegan raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

She shrugged. "Not towards me anyway. I see the way he looks at me. The way he tries to read me. You all do that. I'm different then most girls. It's like you don't understand me," she admitted. Keegan thought about this a moment. The more he thought about it the more he realized it was true. Cade was _very_ difficult to read. She was harder to understand than Rachel and Ivy. Rachel was your average stereotypical girl. Ivy was just the strong, artistic, silent type. Cade was more a mix of many different personalities. He knew he was guilty of trying to read her and it seemed the others were doing the same thing. He hadn't even realized it.

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" He asked, changing the subject.

Cade gave a slight smile. "I haven't been sleeping well. I always come out here when I have trouble sleeping. I haven't been for the last couple days because Merrick told us not to got out alone." She sighed. "I just couldn't handle it anymore. I needed to get out and take a breather."

Keegan nodded in understanding. "It's beautiful out here. I didn't know this was back here."

"It's not marked. I just stumbled on it one day. It's very peaceful."

Keegan studied Cade for a moment. For the first time, he noticed the bags under her eyes. How had he not noticed that before? "Why have you had trouble sleeping?"

Cade shrugged her shoulders. "I just do." Keegan could tell there was something she wasn't telling him. "Come on now Cade. You can tell me anything. People don't just not sleep for no reason," he pressed.

She sighed. "I'm just worried."

Keegan tilted his head and moved closer to Cade. "Worried?" He raised an eyebrow. Cade never came off as worried to him. She always seemed cocky and confident. "Why?"

She shook her head and looked down at her hands. "I'm just worried about what's going to happen to us. I've always had to watch out for my sisters but there has never been a direct threat towards us. Never had to worry about someone coming after us, you know? I just try to stay strong for Ivy and Rachel. Pretend I'm not a mess after what happened to dad."

Keegan was surprised and slightly take aback. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her closer. "That's such a heavy burden for one person to carry alone." She simply nodded. He brushed some loose hair back out of her face. "Your not alone Cade. You have us. You don't need to worry so much. We're here to protect you. You don't have to face this alone," he reassured.

Cade nodded. "Yeah...I guess your right. Kind of selfish of me huh?"

The two sat in silence and just stared out at the water. Cade truly was a piece or work. She may be rudely sarcastic but she had good intentions. After all, she did most the house work, protected her sisters, got groceries. He saw everything she did for her family. Merrick nearly had to twist her arm to convince her to let him drive her to the grocery store. He remembered that conversation quite well.

"Your not going to tell Merrick about this...are you?" She asked quietly.

Keegan looked at her for a minute. "I won't say anything to him. Besides, your out here with me. Your not alone. You and me just wanted to take a walk after all. Neither of us could sleep." He winked at her. She smiled back at him, turning and giving him a hug. "Thanks, Keegan."

He smiled and returned the hug. "Don't mention it Cade." He hugged her a little tighter unconsciously. "Don't mention it..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! I wanted to thank everyone for the reviews! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far!**

Logan was sitting next to Ivy at the kitchen table, watching her color away on the fresh piece of paper. He had grabbed some colored pencils for her while he was out with Hesh. When he gave them to her it had earned him a delighted squeal and a hug. Kick kept teasing him for it because Logan's face had gone completely red. He was now drawing some sort of landscape next to Ivy. What looked to be a dense forest area, or something of the sort. Ivy on the other hand, was drawing a race track with hundreds of screaming fans. It was looking pretty good. She really put everyone else's drawings to shame.

Keegan was becoming slightly worried. It was noon and he hadn't seen Cade all morning. Rachel was out on the couch, chatting away on the phone to one of her girlfriends. Yet, there was no Cade. She was usually downstairs by now. She was always one of the first ones up. Curious, he went upstairs to her room to check on her. He knocked politely on the door, not wanting to barge in on her. There was no answer. Not even the sound of shuffling feet. "Cade? You in there sweetheart?" He called. Again there was no answer. He knocked louder this time. "Cade? You ok?" Now he was starting to get worried. He tried the door knob but it was locked. He frantically reached up above the door and pulled out the spare key, quickly unlocking the door.

He opened the door to find that the room was totally empty. The bed was neatly made, as if it hadn't been slept in for a while. Everything in the room was tucked away and well organized. Nothing on the floors either. The curtains fluttered in the breeze, drawing his attention. Keegan saw that the window was wide open and the screen had been removed. He quickly went to examine it. Cade was on the second floor but because of the way the roof sloped out and downward it wouldn't be hard for her to climb down without injury. "Shit!" He ran back downstairs.

He nearly ran right into Merrick who was heading upstairs to check on him and see what was up. Before Merrick could ask what was wrong he spoke up. "Cade's gone," he said quickly. Merrick looked at him in confusion for a moment before heading back into the kitchen. "Rachel!" Merrick called. Keegan heard the oldest Russ sister groan before she stepped out of the living room, phone still in hand. "What?" She huffed.

"Where's your sister?"

Rachel gave him a _'are you stupid'_ look before pointing at Ivy at the table. Ivy looked up and gave a very confused look. Merrick drug a hand down his face and sighed agitatedly. "Your _other_ sister."

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. She runs off all the time."

"Well, don't you think that would have been nice for us to know earlier?" Merrick snapped.

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. What do I look like?"

"Try calling her cell phone," Kick suggested. Keegan grabbed the portable phone off the receiver to dial the number but Rachel just gave an annoyed grunt. "Cade doesn't _have_ a cell phone."

"Seriously? What kid _doesn't_ have a cell phone nowadays?" Kick argued.

Rachel crossed her arms. "I don't know. She never calls anybody. She just goes out or something on her own."

"Where does she go?" Merrick questioned.

Rachel through her hands up in the air. "I don't know! She doesn't ever tell me! God!" She turned and stormed off back into the living room.

Keegan saw Ivy sink into her chair a bit, looking somewhat ashamed of herself. He crossed his arms and gave her a hard look. "Ivy? Do you know where Cade is?" All eyes where now focused on the silent Russ sister. She twiddled her thumbs a bit and she was biting her bottom lip.

"Ivy?" Merrick pressed. "This isn't a game. We need to know where Cade is. You understand?"

Ivy grabbed a fresh sheet of paper from the pile and began writing something down. It was an address. She slid the paper over to Logan who picked it up and took it to Merrick. All three of them examined it. "Is this where she is?" Merrick asked quizzically. Ivy shrugged her shoulders and nodded. Probably. It wasn't like they had anything else to go on.

"Alright, Keegan, Hesh, let's go. Kick and Logan you two stay here with them," Merrick ordered.

"Copy that," Kick said with a mocking salute.

The three men jumped into Jacob's old truck and started it up. Merrick was driving, Keegan was in the passenger seat, and Hesh was in the back. Keegan held the paper in his hands and guided Merrick to the location using the map in the glove compartment. Keegan could see that Merrick was getting more and more frustrated the further away they got from town. "I swear this kid is going to be the death of us. Look how far we've gone! Why the hell would she walk ten miles just to get to wherever this place is?"

"Might want to calm down before we confront her Merrick," Hesh advised. Merrick's temper wouldn't help them any. Especially with Cade. Cade would just shut down if Merrick went off on her. Then they wouldn't get an explanation. Keegan noticed that they were now _way_ out of town and they seemed to be in the sticks for a bit.

"Damn, we're really out in the country now," Hesh said in awe. That's right. Hesh had always lived in the city. He wasn't use to farm land. The dense trees just seemed to disappear all together and transform into rolling hills. There were large fields of corn belonging to farmers that seemed to stretch for miles.

"Let's just find the address," Merrick mumbled. Keegan pointed Merrick down the road they had been searching for. They were still in farmland USA. "We're looking for 1643," Keegan reminded him. They scanned through all the road markers looking for the correct number. Eventually, they found it next to a long driveway.

The drive led up to a very large red barn with a smaller white house next to it. A couple of dogs began barking as they rolled up in the truck. Keegan could see some cows grazing out in the pasture off in the distance. They all jumped out of the truck and looked around. It was a pretty nice plot of land. Lots of farm animals out and about. Hesh seemed to be very intrigued by the barn. They could faintly hear the sound of pigs and chicken coming from inside. "Let's check out the barn first." Merrick's voice snapped Keegan back to attention.

The three walked over to the large barn and stepped inside. It was dusty and dim inside but still light enough to see. The windows let in most of the sunlight. There was hay piled high up in the hay mound above their heads. They must have just gotten that load. They had entered into the stall area where all the horses where being kept. All of the horses appeared to be inside and were now starring at the new comers. Hesh was immediately mesmerized by the horses. "Wow..." Poor kid wasn't used to being out on the farm. Sure, his dad always took his boy's hunting, but this was probably the first time he had been around these types of domestic farm animals.

The horses began to whinny and bob their heads at them. A few even started to prance excitedly. They probably thought they were going to get to go outside. What caught Keegan's attention right away though was the soul horse tied up in the ally way. It was looking at them curiously, twitching it's ears at the slightest sound they made. "Hey there," Hesh said as he walked over to the horse. Keegan knew a little bit about horses. This one was a mare. She wasn't as big as some of the others in the barn but she sure was well built. Whoever owned this one certainly kept it in shape. "What are you doing out in the ally way all by yourself huh?" Hesh rubbed the creature's head, causing it to shed some loose hairs. The horse nuzzled Hesh and curiously smelled him, unsure of who the stranger was. Probably thought he reeked too. Hesh always wore too much cologne.

The silence was cut as a loud _bang_ echoed through the barn, followed by a sharp gasp. "Colt! Colt!" Keegan recognized the voice right away. That was Cade. He darted around the horse to the last stall on the left side. He saw Cade on her knees trying to stand back up while the horse in the stall with her began to rear up and kick out angrily. She stood up and tried to grab the horse's halter to calm it down while also trying to avoid it's hooves. The creature was angrily lashing out and a direct kick to the head would be _more_ than enough to kill someone. Keegan wasn't up for a gamble. He jerked Cade out of the stall and shut the gate, pulling her into his chest. The horse in the stall had it's ears pinned back and continued to kick out at the wall a few more times before finally stopping.

Keegan could feel Cade's rapid heartbeat and her uneven breathing. He wrapped an arm around her, keeping her close. He zoned out for a moment. "Keegan? What are you doing here?" She panted out.

Merrick and Hesh walked around the slightly confused mare that was still tied in the ally way. "We should be asking you that," Merrick snapped. Cade squirmed her way out of Keegan's grip and took a step back from them. Keegan could now see a large cut on her arm. It was fresh and bleeding rather badly. "Cade! Your bleeding," he said.

She looked down at her arm and immediately applied some pressure to the cut. "It's fine. He just caught me with his hoof. Nothing too bad," she said. She looked back at the horse's stall. "I don't know what got into him."

Merrick wasn't up for a friendly chat. He was all business. He took out a black bandana from his pocket and gestured for her to come over. He tightened it around her arm to stop the bleeding. It would need stitches. "What are you doing out here Cade? You know your not supposed to leave the house without one of us! What if that horse kicked you in the head?"

Cade shrugged. "I'd have one hell of a headache."

"Cade!"

"I'm not doing anything wrong. I had to come out and take care of the horses. Plus the fence broke, a couple of the hogs are sick, and a cow is about ready to give birth. I needed to get out here to help out," she said.

Merrick crossed his arms. "How did you even get out here? I doubt you walked all the way here."

Cade sighed. "My friend Colten picked me up. He owns the farm."

"Why the hell do you come out here?" He pressed.

"Well for one, Colten lets me keep my horse here so for that I-"

"You own a horse?" Hesh butted in. Keegan saw Merrick roll his eyes and glare at the older Walker boy. "Which ones yours?"

Cade nodded towards the mare in the ally way that Hesh had been previously petting. "That ones mine."

"No way? What's her name?"

"Hesh!" Merrick growled agitatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Cade smiled and walked over to the horse, Hesh following her. Merrick looked at Keegan who gave him a shrug. Cade pulled a small brush from her back pocket and began to brush out the horse, sending all the loose hairs into the air. Keegan had to admit that the horse was very pretty. She was a nice sorrel color with a white blaze on her head. The horse whinnied and straightened up when it felt the brush. "Her names Chick," Cade told Hesh. She handed him the brush and let him brush her.

The barn door opened and a young man walked in. He was wearing jeans and a red flannel shirt. He had messy brown hair and brown eyes. He was older than Cade though. More than a few years older than her. Yet, he appeared younger than Hesh. He looked slightly out of breath and a little startled when he entered. "Cade? Are you alright? I thought I heard you yell and then I saw the truck and-" he paused when he saw Keegan, Merrick, and Hesh. "Cade? Who are these guys?"

Cade turned and faced the older man. "Their ok. They came to give me a ride home." She stepped away from the horse and gestured to them. "Colten, this is Keegan, Merrick, and Hesh. They're friends of mine."

The man seemed relieved by this. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a red bandana he had in his back pocket. He smiled and offered out his hand to them. "Any friend of Cade's is a friend of mine. I'm Colten, but you can just call me Colt. Nice to meet you folks."

Keegan accepted the handshake and smiled back. "Sorry to disturb you. We were just looking for Cade," he apologized. The older man raised an eyebrow at this and glanced over at the girl. "You know, you probably shouldn't be running off like that Cade," he sighed, scratching his head. It was clear he was trying to be assertive with her yet not come off as bossy.

Cade sighed. "Hasn't even been thirty seconds and already I'm being ganged up on."

Colten chuckled. "Hey, I know how you are. You do shit like that. _A lot_."

Cade snorted and flipped him off. Merrick gave her a very disapproving look, still pissed about the entire situation. Colten seemed to pick up on this. "Hey Cade? How about you go check on the hogs? I'll put your horse away for you." She gave him a curious look but didn't argue with him, seemingly picking up on the seriousness in his voice. "Alright, I'll be right back." It was clear that Colten wanted to talk to the three of them. Alone. That set off a few alarm bells in Keegan's mind. Once Cade was gone the man sighed. "So, you folks ain't from around here I take it?" He started off slowly.

"No, we aren't." Merrick replied bluntly, not willing to be intimidated by the man's questions.

"How do you know Cade?" Colten asked. He leaned up against a wood post, looking at them rather expectantly.

"We're friends of her dad," Keegan said quickly. This got the boy's attention. He straightened up a bit and looked at Keegan. "Jacob's back in town?"

Keegan sighed. "No... he isn't."

This seemed to confuse Colten for a minute. "Then why are you guys...?" His face was suddenly filled with realization. He shook his head and looked down to the floor. "Oh... Damn. Poor Cade. She never said nothing about it." He glanced over at the door Cade had walked out of. He shoved his hands deep into his jean pockets. "I figured he was still out serving, you know? He wasn't due back for a while still."

"Colten, how do you know Cade?" Keegan questioned, suddenly curious of what his relationship with her was.

The man pushed off the wooden post and crossed his arms. "I know her through her old man. I used to help him fix up cars after I graduated High School. Especially them Army vehicles. Cade would come out and help too. Kept us busy for a while. I got to know the Russ family pretty well. Before Jacob left he asked me to keep an eye on Cade for him. So I stop in and check on them. I take her out occasionally. Most the time I bring her out here though." He rubbed the back of his head. "I um... I apologize if you didn't know where she was. If I'd known ya'll were there I would have said something to ya."

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know," Keegan said.

Colten smiled. "I appreciate that. I promise I'll check in with you folks before I take her somewhere next time." He walked over and untied Chick from the ally way. He guided the horse back to her correct stall. He then pulled out what looked to be a treat from his jean pocket and gave it to the horse who whinnied happily.

"Say Colten?" Merrick called over.

"Sup?"

"You got a number we can reach you at?"

The boy looked up in surprise. "Yeah, sure. I always got my phone on me. You ever need something call me up anytime. I'd be happy to help out." He scribbled his number down and handed it to Merrick.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm sure we'll call you in the future with a _Cade_ related issue."

**Yeah, so Cade's got a secret barn life that the guys didn't know about :) I wanted to do this because I live on a farm with lots of animals. The horse, Chick, is based off of my horse Chicks Lil Wager. Yes, her name is really Chick. That's what we call her. I thought it would be cool to give Cade a pet. and put her in a whole different setting. I also thought it would be cute to make Hesh the deprived city kid who wasn't used to farm life :3 I hope you guys enjoyed!**


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